LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, ParkMe,
a leading provider of dynamic and real-time parking data announced
partnerships with the cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica to give
motorists a powerful tool for finding available parking in real-time.
This will help optimize transportation operations and alleviate the
parking woes of Los Angeles County.

Through these partnerships, Los Angeles drivers will be able to fully
experience ParkMe’s unique real-time parking solution that was developed
to help drivers save time and money by finding the closest and cheapest
parking available. The app aspires to transform the commute of local
residents by sharing real-time hourly rates.

“Born and raised in Los Angeles, I have spent years relying on luck to
find a parking spot. Now I can use technology,” said Sam Friedman, CEO
and co-founder of ParkMe. “It has been an incredible experience working
with the city of Los Angeles to further our mission and provide the best
parking solution for drivers, helping them park quickly and more
efficiently through intelligent, real-time information.”

Eric Garcetti, 13th District Councilmember, added, "Circling
around for an open spot not only drives people crazy, it can generate up
to 30 percent of traffic congestion in busy areas. ParkMe will reduce
stress for Angelenos, reduce traffic, and help businesses. Innovative
solutions like ParkMe are exactly what we need more of in government."

For Downtown Los Angeles drivers, ParkMe was engaged by the Los Angeles
Department of Transportation (LADOT) to help enhance the LA Express Park
program. ParkMe is helping to increase the program’s spot-finding
abilities by adding all of downtown’s public parking lots and garages to
LA Express Park’s real-time parking pricing and availability
information. ParkMe communicates information about parking meter pricing
and occupancy, hours of operation, methods of payment, and even direct
entrance points to garages. Drivers can access this information through
the LA Express Park website, ParkMe’s own free iOS app, and www.ParkMe.com.
ParkMe is provided information through Xerox’s dynamic pricing service.

“Helping drivers to navigate their myriad of parking options is an
invaluable tool to save time and park smarter in Downtown L.A.,” said
Dan Mitchell, a senior transportation engineer with LADOT. “Of course,
drivers should always use these tools responsibly by safely pulling
over, or better yet, checking parking choices before they leave for
Downtown.”

Analyzing data and developing a dynamic pricing engine is the first
critical step to ensuring the success of LA Express Park, but equally
important to changing parking behavior is communicating rates and
availability to customers.

Additionally, the city of Santa Monica announced plans to roll out its
own app, powered by ParkMe. The app is designed to manage the city’s
increasing flow of traffic through intelligent parking. The app will
show drivers real-time availability of all parking meters, and display
occupancy for the public facilities. This data will also be streamed to
ParkMe’s own award-winning application.

Currently, there are millions of drivers accessing parking data directly
through ParkMe’s branded mobile apps and through its partnerships with
GPS and in-car navigation systems. Now, Santa Monica and Los Angeles,
respectively, are offering its drivers connectivity to the ever-changing
parking conditions. ParkMe welcomes these municipalities into its
network.

ABOUT PARKME

Based in Santa Monica, Calif., ParkMe is the leading provider of parking
information to navigation companies and smartphones. Founded by Sam
Friedman and Alex Israel, ParkMe’s mission is to make parking easier.
ParkMe collects and aggregates data about both on-street and off-street
parking and has built the world’s most comprehensive parking database.
This includes more than 25,000 worldwide locations in more than 500
cities, 19 countries and three continents. ParkMe’s free app, ParkMe,
helps drivers find parking in real-time from their smartphones. ParkMe
can be found on Twitter @TheParkMeApp,
and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/theparkmeapp.

ABOUT LA EXPRESS PARK/LADOT

LA Express Park is a year-long demonstration project using demand-based
parking pricing and real-time parking guidance to reduce traffic
congestion and pollution in Downtown Los Angeles. Wireless sensors in
each of Downtown’s 6,000 metered parking spaces provide the data for
this advanced parking management project, helping drivers to save time
and park smarter. The project is being developed in partnership with
Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority supported by $15 million in grants from the Federal Highway
Administration and $3.5 million in matching city funds. For more
information on LA Express Park and to use it visit the project website: www.laexpresspark.org.

ABOUT THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA

The City of Santa Monica operates 13,436 parking spaces in 26 lots and
12 structures in addition to 5,967 single-space, on–street parking
meters. Parking Operations is part of the City’s Finance Department and
also administers parking permits and parking citation payments. The
City’s parking programs actively utilize technology and data to improve
parking management tools and enhance customer service. The new Santa
Monica Parking – Powered by ParkMe app, coupled with other ongoing
efforts, demonstrates how the City is continually working to improve the
access and availability of public parking.